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The next time you’re buying a used car, there’s a new service you can use for a free vehicle identification (VIN) number search. This is especially important if you’re buying a car through Craigslist or eBay and there’s no dealership to provide free access to a CARFAX report.

Get your free vehicle identification number search

CARFAX, Autocheck and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) are a few websites you can use to look at the history of the car. They typically report any accidents where an insurance claim has been made, in addition to the registrations by state and the type of title the car has.

Now you can add to that list another service called VehicleHistory.com, which is free to use.

At VehicleHistory.com, simply enter a VIN and you’ll get instant access to the following:

Vehicle Specifications

Fuel Economy

Cost To Own

Check Salvage Yards

Recalls

60+ Vehicle Problems

Odometer Reading

Structural Damages

Full Salvage Check

Structural Damages

Don’t forget to have a mechanic vet the car before purchase

Now, one note of caution here: Neither VehicleHistory, Autocheck, NICB or CARFAX are perfect. This disclaimer from the latter says it all:

‘CARFAX does not have the complete history of every vehicle. Use the CARFAX search as one important tool, along with a vehicle inspection and test drive, to make a better decision about your next used car.’

So it is possible that a report could show no accidents, but the car has clearly had major repairs. This would be likely if a repair was self-paid, rather than having been run through insurance. Thus the takeaway is uses these services as a tool, but don’t rely on the information to be 100% accurate.

For real peace of mind when you’re buying a used vehicle, you’ve got to hire an independent mechanic to take a look at the vehicle before you agree to buy it.

The reality is that all used cars are sold ‘as is,’ whether by a private seller or a licensed dealer — unless they come with a written warranty. Worse yet, the seller is not required by law to be honest about the condition of the vehicle. Whatever representations they make about the car can be false.

So one of Clark’s key rules of used car buying is have the car inspected by a certified diagnostic mechanic of your choosing as a condition of purchase. You can leave a deposit if you wish, but specify in writing that the money must be returned to you if the car doesn’t check out. You’ll eliminate nine out of 10 used car buying disasters this way.

When looking for an independent mechanic, you want to see ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certification. Garages that participate in what’s called the Blue Seal program typically feature the most highly trained ASE-certified mechanics. Visit ASE.com to find one near you.

Watch out for hidden flood damage

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Clark gave warnings about flood cars entering the used car market. At that time, hundreds of thousands of vehicles were rebuilt and had their titles ‘washed.’ But this is really a recurring problem that happens anytime we have a major hurricane season or flooding.

Dishonest people take flooded vehicles into certain states where they can easily wash the titles. That action removes any evidence that the vehicle was ever in a flood. Cars with washed titles can then be sold to any dealership across the country that either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that they’re buying a flood vehicle.

These cars often end up in the hands of ‘curb stoners,’ which are illegal dealers who run ads in the paper. They pretend they’re selling their sister’s car or their mother’s car and they hope you don’t know what they know. About 20% of these cars go to unsuspecting people overseas. The other 80% stay right here at home.

To the naked eye, there’s no telling that anything is amiss with these cars. But you’ll know you’ve got a flood car when you encounter failed electrical systems throughout the vehicle.